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Headed into last night’s Monday Night Football matchup, the selling point could have been David vs. Goliath. A Bengals team off to a rough start missing its starting quarterback against a Jaguars team off to a blazing start and equipped with the talented Trevor Lawrence. Instead, the matchup turned into David vs. David as Jacksonville lost its signal-caller.
The Cincinnati Bengals (6-6) defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4) 34-31 in overtime at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville. Lawrence left the game early with an injury, and Cincinnati’s Jake Browning emerged victorious in what ended as a battle of the backups.
Final@net_acr | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/cVSzWWrKqM
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) December 5, 2023
How It Happened
The Jaguars struck first for the only points of the first quarter. Travis Etienne Jr. found the end zone on a four-yard run to go up 7-0 early. Etienne finished with 11 carries for 45 yards and the score. The Bengals responded on the ground in the second quarter with a six-yard touchdown from Joe Mixon. He finished with less carries (9) and yards (33) than Etienne, but scored twice.
Jacksonville responded quickly with a 22-yard connection between Lawrence and Evan Engram. Lawrence had an excellent game before leaving early, finishing 22-for-29 with 258 yards and two passing touchdowns. Mixon scored his second rushing touchdown to tie the game at 14 headed into halftime.
After the break, Browning got cooking. He found Ja’Marr Chase on a 76-yard pass to make it 21-14. Browning finished a near-perfect 19-for-21 with 261 yards and a touchdown. Lawrence found Parker Washington to tie it back at 21 and then added a rushing touchdown to go up 28-21 headed into the final quarter.
After Browning rushed for a touchdown to tie the game again in the opening moments of the fourth quarter. Lawrence once again looked to turn out a scoring drive. Instead, he went down with a gruesome ankle injury. He’ll be evaluated further this morning. Both teams traded field goals to enter overtime.
Jaguars backup C.J. Beathard couldn’t score in the opening drive, prompting the Bengals to drive down and set up Evan McPherson for the game-winning field goal.
Evan McPherson wins it in OT! #CINvsJAX pic.twitter.com/QTr5ljCD6d
— NFL (@NFL) December 5, 2023
What’s Next
The Bengals are 6-6 and at a crossroads. This team is deep and might have playoff potential, but is missing its quarterback and needs some retooling on the offensive line. They’ll be back on Sunday against the Colts.
The Jaguars are in trouble. Despite being division leaders, losing Lawrence for a few weeks causes trouble. They’ll need to stay afloat in his absence as they take on the Browns.
